The report, Decentralising Power: An Energy Revolution For The 21st Century, argues that a reform of the electricity system is urgently needed to end this environmentally destructive wastage - the power sector is the single greatest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. The solution is to generate electricity close to where it is needed, or 'decentralise' it.

A decentralised energy system would see everyday buildings playing host to devices such as solar panels, small wind turbines and combined heat and power boilers, which generate electricity as well as providing heat and hot water. The electricity created would be used directly by the house or workplace, and the surplus would be fed into a local network. This electricity would then be locally distributed, avoiding the significant loss that occurs when electricity is transported long distances.

The Greenpeace press release points to some decentralized energy trivia.

Since switching to such a system, Woking Borough Council has slashed
its emissions of carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas, by almost
80%. And Holland meets 40% of national electricity demand through
decentralised energy.

July 11, 2005

One thing that has been catching my eye recently is the whole potential of micro-generation. Check out this Time magazine article for a peek at what it's all about.

Micropower is far less of
an imposition on the landscape, though, than big wind farms and solar
arrays, and it's also part of a growing trend toward local production
of goods and services, including energy. "Mini-wind turbines and solar
arrays should become familiar household fixtures," according to Joanna
Collins, author of the British environmental think-tank Green
Alliance's A Microgeneration Manifesto. "These new technologies cut
greenhouse-gas emissions [and] provide reliable energy supplies."

In a nutshell microgeneration is anything involving individual homes, businesses, etc. generating their own power. Mini energy factories, if you will. It seems like there could be tremendous potential here. There appears to be some signs of increasing micro-generation support, but overall I haven't seen much action in that direction.